Mower



Oct-28, 1941. R. D. cLEMsoN MOWER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 14, 1959 Oct. 28, 1941. R. D. cLEMsoN 2,260,297

MOWER Filed Feb. 14, 1959- 2 sheets-sheet 2 Syvum/vbo@ @www Patented Oct. 28, 1941 i MOWE-R Richard D. Clemson, Middletown, N. Y., assignor to Clemson Bros., Inc., Middletown, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 14, 19.39, Serial No. 256,3 y

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved bed knife for lawn mowers of the rotary cutting reel type and to a preferred method of making the same.

Lawn mowers of the type to which the bed knife of this invention is particularly adapted have a frame mounted on wheels which roll cn the ground during normal use and a rotary cutting reel mounted on the frame between the wheels and ordinarily operatively connected thereto by a transmission device, which causes the reel to rotate when the mower is propelled over a lawn or the other area to be sheared. Fly knives arranged about the rotary cutting reel are usually spiral in form and' positioned with their cutting edges lying in an approximate geometric cylinder concentric with the reel axle. The bed knife is positioned on the lower part of the frame in such manner that the cutting edge thereof lies on said geometric cylinder in order that each of the fly knives in turn will make a progressive shearing contact therewith as the reel rotates. It is generally customary to pivotally mount the bed knife in order that the same may be adjusted from time to time to` compensate for normal wear of the cutting members. In order to transmit the necessary pressure evenly from the adjusting device tothe edge of the bed knife, it has been customary to provide a rigid back of heavy steel or cast ironvto which the bed knife proper is attached. This structure accounts for a considerablefpart of the cost of Vthe entire machine and adds` greatly to its weight.

It is an object of my invention to provide a bed knife construction which will be superior in its physical properties and its functioning and less costly to produce than any heretofore known. It is a particular object to improve the resilient recoveryv from impacts suffered in service. Another object is to lessen the weight. Another obect is to permitthe use of more expensive alloy best suited to the desired physical qualities without increasing cost and to attain the uniformity of physical properties which may be had in sheet metal as compared with castings. Another object is to provide a simple and inexpensive method of making bed knives. Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description.

According to the present invention, a strip of goed quality sheet metal, such as cold .rolled alloy steel, is bent to form an approximate three sided prism of a suitable length and the edges the bed knife;

of the strip are welded together by continuous Welding or spot welding at suitable intervals,

e. g., so as to form an extension of one side of the prism. One of said edges may then be turned Vupward to form a lip which is n subsequently ground to form the cutting edge of the'bed knife.

The open ends of the prism are closed with rigid blocks whichserve to provide a means'V of 'attachment to the mower frame and impart additional rigidity to the prismatic portion 0f the bed knife. These end blocks may be stamped from heavy sheet and welded or otherwise secured to the ends of the looped stripy or they may be cast vin situ,-e. g., of die casting alloy cast in' suitable dies.

A bed knife of this form is particularly well adapted to function in accordancewith my y,concept of reaction cut as disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 52,757, flledDecember 4, 1935, now Patent No. 2,183,544, and if made of relatively thin resilient strip provided `with a lip it may function in accordance with "my invention described and `claimed .in my application Serial N0. 148,837, filed June 18, 1937, now Patent No. 2,183,545. i

4It is to beclearly understood that the present invention has a wider applicability v.than only with constructionssuitable for` operationvin accordance withthe above noted concept of'reaction cut. The present bed knife is admirably tted to use with any of the well known types of lawn mowers now in use. t

` Fig. 1 is a plan view of a mower unit comprising the bed knife of this invention;

Fig. 2 represents a plan in partial section of ',Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the bed knife;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary lsectional View of one end of 4another, bed knife and an adjacentpart of the mower frame on which it is mounted; land Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the same.

Referring particularly to Fig. l, the mower unit comprises frame members Hl connected and maintainedin proper relationship by' a tie tube I I, the reel axle l2 and the bed knife I3. Wheels I4 are mounted on the frame member I0 and operatively connected` by means of a'gear train (not shown) to the reel axle I2. A plurality of spiral fly knives l5 are mounted about the reel axlewith their respective cutting edges lying in an approximate geometric cylinder concentric with said axle l2 yand maintained in the desired relationship by spiders I6. Lugs I1 on the frame member IIJ areprovided for attachment of a/ handle to be used in propelling rthe machinefover Y the` casting securely in place. `opening 28 in this case is preferably provided by 60 a lawn. At the rear of the unit is mounted a ground roller I8 and a suitable adjustment device I9 to control the position thereof relative to the frame.

The bed knife I3, in accordance with my prior invention already referred to, is pivotally mounted on an axis of rotation below that plane of tangency to the reel cylinder thru the cutting edge of the bed knife and behind said cutting A manual adjustment, as, for examplel0 the manual SCIeWy 20, iS provided t0 DOS'IVGIYI cause rotation of the rod 33, whereupon the pro-` Vjections will be depressed resulting in rotathe manner hereinafter more fully described: However, it is to be understood that the means of adjustment is not essentialto'the presentiin-- rl5 vention andthe bed knife here described may, be suitably modified to adapt it to .any desired adjusting means or used"inv a machine where vadjustment is not provided. 1 1

Referring speciicallyto the bed knife, which 2O y*embodies ythe, novel features ofthis invent1onI form the same from a strip of metal such as' 'cold edge.

limit rotation of the bed knife about its axis in rolledl steel of suitable width. This strip is'foldediinto a loop to providea rigid back of gener- `ally .prismatic ,form having a rearward side 2I, 25 a bottom side, 22 parallel to the ground and a top side 23 4approximating parallelism with the adjacent cylindrical surface of the reel. As clearly shown inHFigure 3, the edges of the strip ,whenw thus folded 'are extended in overlapping contact"'30 and `joined to forman extension 24 Vof the, side Q22. Oneof the said edges, in this case the upper, is turned upwardly at an angle to the said extension v24 to form a lip 25 which serves asAv the cutting edge of the finished bed knife, andd` l to' provide longitudinal stiffness at the edge. The

two layers of metal forming the extensionZd are fin this case spot welded as indicated at 26 .inFigure 2. .L Y

,i A plurality of rigid metallic insets 2,1 are so Vplaced as to support the sides 22A and 23 of the bed knife structure. It has been found that highly satisfactory operation is achieved by employing one such inset Vat each endr of they bedknife structure. This imparts substantial rigid- 45 i]ity to the" structure as, a whole while leavin'gthe same vsufliciently resilient as to be largely immune to damage by. striking obstructions. y

In Figures 2 and3, I have shown an insert A `which isiformed of heavy sheet or platesteel 5 secured to the end of the tubular back portion, e. g., by continuous edge welding or spot welding. I have found, however, that itis .desirable in!v many cases to form such an end plug in situ@ by die casting. When this is doneI prefer tov "5 make a cut 35 of some kind (e. g., as: shown vin Fig; 5) near the end of the tubular .back portion so that the metal will ilow intothe cut and key an insert having suitable undercut portions whereby it is keyed into the casting. '-f-Provision is'made `for pivotally `mounting' the bed knife and the bed knife is constructed?withl,` projecting members or the like to Contact` ad- 'justing' screws orjsprings yaccording to the nature f) of the vmower inconnection with which Ithe bed kife is to be used. In the embodiment 'offthena vinvention disclosed here for purposes of illustra-*70 tion, the insets .21 are tapped and threaded, as

at2 8, to receive mounting bolts 29 which" extend through suitable openings in the frame IIJ of the assembledmower unit.v A lateral projection 36),.`A-` offeach inset 21 acts as a cam follower in Con-"7 The, threaded?y 3.,

junction with a cam type adjustment more fully described in my copending application Serial No. n

"tion of the bed knife toward the reel.

' .It should fbei'understood that my invention is Ainno way limited to use in connection with the adjusting device of my copending application,

Serial No. 256,376, nor to any of the other inventions mentioned. In fact, it is one advantage of my invention that it makes possible -the elimination of torque `distributing devices .such as the cam tube describedy in my said cepending application, because it gives rigidity combined with lightness and resiliency and its hollow tubular formlendsitself well Vto a tight mounting free from play which canbe accurately adjusted by a single -manual screw at one end. This is vclearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

i The side frames in this case as shown at Illa are formed withl spherical projections 3T; while the end plugs 21a are formed with corresponding Yspherical recesses so that the two cooperate to form a ball and socket joint. A long bolt 29a extends through one side frame Illa and through V-the'tube I3 and is threaded into the other side frame and secured by a lock nut 39. With these ball and socket joints the bed knife is held rigidly resilient friction.

. A spring 32 inserted in a hole 3| inthe rear portion of each projection 30 bears against a lug 34 ron the frame I0 thereby tending to cause the bed knife to be positioned for the maximum clearance allowed by the rod 33. The spring 32 is of a strength sufficient to maintain the clearance between the shearing knives at the adjusted maximum but insufficient to offer substantial resistance to the reaction due to cutting grass or the like.

Although I have shown and described a specific bed knife structure'and a'particular method of mounting rthe same, it is tobe understood that this disclosure is not limitingor exhaustive of the invention, but, on they contrary, is presented x l, for lpurposes of illustration to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the principles of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a rotary reel mower the combination of side frames having tapered projections, a hollow bed knife having a corresponding tapered recess adapted rotatablyto fit said projection without lateral play, a rod extended through the frames and hollow bed knife coaxial with said projections and recesses, clampingmeans on the rod to hold the parts clamped together without play and.

means for adjusting the rotary position of the bed knife about its axis of mounting.

2. In a rotary reel mower the combination of side frames having parallel extensions adapted to receive between them a bed knife, a bed knife tted between said extensions each of said extensions being engaged With an end of the bed knife through a ball and socket connection, one of said parts having a spherical projection thereon and the other a corresponding spherical depression, means for clamping said extensions together onto the ends of the bed knife whereby to hold the parts frictionally clamped together and accuratelyr positioned Without play, and means for adjusting the rotary position of the bed knife about its axis of mounting.

RICHARD D. CLEMSON. 

